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The Grocery Shop Around the Corner

Feeling a bit nostalgic here, are we now??? Translated…

Back when I was growing up, the super convenience shops weren’t so prevalent, the grocery stores are the places where people gone to get their things; every time I got a chance, I’d always bugged mom about shopping with her, because she would always make her way to Mrs. Chang’s grocery shop.

The grocery shop was located at the corner of the markets, the store was dimly lit, with an assortment of goods piled up, some of the places, even I, as a kid, couldn’t, manage, to squeeze through, and yet, Mrs. Chang could, easily, pick out the items that her customers wanted to buy.

My favorite section was that rack by the right of the checkout, and, the checkout composed of an iron cash register, and an old wooden table, with the things scattered across the tabletop, along with an abacus with black oval shaped beads; next to the table, the shelves had an assortment of jars, with various candies, dried fruits, snacks in them. All of these colorful snacks, became illuminated, inside this dimly lit up grocery shop, and all of these treats, with food colorings, of a wide variety of flavors, were all, exposed, in front of the customers.

what a small grocery shop look in modern day, not my photo…

That was, such a down-to-earth era, even the snacks didn’t have that overly done packaging, everything was clear-cut. But, as Mrs. Chang rang her customers up, she’d become, quite careless, I’d never seen her use the abacus she had, and, she’d not kept tabs on the patrons who didn’t pay her right away. She was very kind, passionate, also, someone that the neighbors would call out to, to have her mediate the affairs between them.

The reason why I’d loved tagging along my mother to the shops, other than being given the opportunities to buy the snacks, I’d loved watching Mrs. Chang mediate, no matter how big the matters, so long as she got involved, they would all, get resolved, no problems at all. I’d heard her, reasoning with the parties, used emotions to appease to them, she’s very forceful, and very wise, and, Mr. Chang who’d, “popped” out every now and then from behind the cash registers was even a better “tool” of the mediations, although he’d always looked like he’d just waken up, walking out from the darkened aisle, wearing his white shirt, he was actually, a forceful police officer. And, as Mrs. Chang saw her husband come up, she’d added to the people whom she was mediating for, “So unreasonable, maybe, you should, follow him into the police station instead!”, and, every time she’d blurted this out, I’d always wanted to applaud her.

And, Mrs. Chang died many years ago of cancer, and, the small grocery shop became, a small chain food shop now, and, the place is now, with great light, and, all the clothes, the services, as well as the foods were, up to standards, but, it’d made me miss, that sense of humanity, that sense of locality that was once, stationed here.

and this, would be what a small grocery shop looked from way back when, photo from online…

So this, is someone feeling nostalgic about things when she was younger, and, because the shop owner carried the values of honesty and good will, that, is why people from all around loved shopping at the place, and now, the shop is no more, and, someone who’d once shopped there still missed it so.